thinking about rodya again because like... she contradicts herself so often and tries to put up this facade of being gluttonous and lustful and full of Vices (evil) and then you watch her actually Do Things and it's like oh. Oh that's not. No girl you're not evil or fucked up. that's just what being poor does to you
like the biggest thing for me about this is food and her fixation on it- we Know she grew up poor and that starving is a core memory for her (so much so that it drives her to kill the pawnbroker in Canto 2) but she didn't Kill just so she could steal all of the food for herself, it was for her neighborhood to share. same with her other vice, gambling, and the end of Canto 2- she stashes away poker chips not only to hoard for herself, but to treat the rest of the sinners to a nice meal at a restaurant. she is selfless to her core, and every single chance she gets, she shares!
rodya to me is a character who is defined by her ability to do Good. and that's what makes me sympathize with her so much - like Sonya said, every action she takes is to try to become something great, yeah, but at the end of the day it's not really about her. It's about everyone else and how she tries to protect them. She's so obsessed with becoming someone and doing something great that her contributions themselves get overlooked, and she herself doesn't seem to realize just how sympathetic of a character she could be if she just dropped the facade and was a little more vulnerable with Dante + crew. It's a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in a way, which makes it all the more interesting to see how she'll grow and evolve in the future as a character.
I swear I'll make an actual Meursault L'etranger post one day but something I think about a lot is that the people who often hate Meursault hate him because he is dislikeable in some way, whether that be because of his crime or because of how he talks/acts/behaves etc. Which, sure you're allowed to dislike a character based on their actions! Sure characters can be disliked for whatever reason! But I find it interesting that a lot of the grievances people have seem to fall more into petty judgements of his character (i.e. that he is a Bad Person because he Fails to do X) rather than evaluating Why it is he acts that way. For example, I've heard people dislike him based on the fact that he often allows people to get hurt by omission, because he refuses to take charge in a situation. While that's true, it also totally disregards the fact that he is quite literally The Stranger from the hit book The Stranger, and that he sees the world in a completely different light. We don't know if Meursault is fully capable of understanding the effects his actions have on others in the same way we think about him, and in any other setting, a character flaw of "they're kinda passive sometimes" is perfectly acceptable! It's simply the fact that Meursault is Meursault that makes this trait an indicator of his morality instead of a facet of his character.
It's kind of a sad parallel to how irl autistic people are treated, imo. Either people expect them to be savants who have some kind of godly superhuman powers or they're deemed strange and weird and cringe in ways that make people uncomfortable. It's really telling to me that people can't seem to concieve of Meursault as both unpleasant to be around yet still deserving of basic human empathy, which (in my opinion) is literally what The Stranger is about.
It is not a moral failing to see the world differently from others, and just because you dislike someone does not mean they get to have their humanity stripped from them because of it.
I honestly think the issue with the divide between theorists and mechanics enjoyers in limbus company is that some people treat it as a game while other people treat it as a story
When you play a traditional story-driven game the narrative (for the most part) is fixed. There are certain actions that cannot Be undone, and the plot is linear, bar maybe one or two major choices at the end that result in a different ending. There is a certain level of agreement that X event Happened, because we all played through it, right?
Here's the thing, though: When you start to base your game off of works of literature, you inevitably draw in people who play the game for the story component, not just for the mechanics. This results in a group of people who use their understanding of books to analyze a linear story, and some of them are interpreting the game as having multiple "endings"- i.e., that the story draws on multiple themes, each of which can be examined in order to find a greater meaning. Canto 3's focus is on humanity versus inhumanity, but it also draws on themes of disability, prosthetics, and eugenics. Canto 5 is about moving on and severing the ties that bind you, but it can also be interpreted as a metaphor for growing up, because the way Ahab treats Ishmael (and the rest of the crew) is very reminiscent of how children go from having one big authority figure in their life (Adults) to being able to choose their own future in life. (I would even go as far as to say that Ishmael and Queenqueg's relationship in the story is very similar to a young coming-out story in that it adds tension to Ahab's control over the crew, but that's a story- and a theory- for another day.)
Now, is that the intended meaning of Canto 5? Absolutely not! I don't think Ishmael is a child, and I absolutely do not think that Ahab should be let anywhere near a child (rip Pip lmao). But that interpretation is still valid, because it is a way to understand the story and metaphors used in Limbus. Even if it's not the "correct" interpretation, I am adding value to the story by presenting an alternate way to Look at it and relate to what is being said. This is how theorycrafting works, or, in more fancy words, this is how academics and English majors create their essays and arguments. It's why we can still be talking about books like Crime and Punishment hundreds of years later, because there's so much that the author Doesn't say in the book which can be talked about! And it's how Project Moon is able to create Limbus Company in the first place. This is a game that is a derivative of multiple different stories, itself having a main character who wrote a book that was basically him and famous people all going to hell together. It's all connected!
Where am I going with this? Well, I bring this up because I saw a fantastic post the other day talking about how Hong Lu's growth and trauma in Canto 8 can be interpreted as a metaphor for SA, and while many people in the comments were supportive of the analysis, there were also some people who disagreed based on the grounds of "well Project Moon has explicitly stated they will never talk about SA, so this interpretation cannot be true!" ....which. Sure, that's certainly a way to interpret what is being said to you in the game. But subtext is there for a reason. It feels borderline insensitive to see a group of people relating to a specific experience and go "it's not in the text, therefore it doesn't count" when the themes of Limbus Company are broad enough to be seen as metaphors for a whole range of things. Especially given the way that certain characters talk to Hong Lu and how his concerns are dismissed. There is enough evidence to make that claim, even if it's not the Focus of the work itself.
This is not the first time I've encountered people who, for whatever reason, refuse to look beyond the game and try to form their own interpretations of the characters. I've seen people disregard other theories or ideas on the grounds of "this isn't supported by the game's text", taking only what is explicitly being said at face value. And it seems to be a pretty common experience! But I think we stand to lose a lot if we just focus on what's being textually said. Because if you only focus on what's being presented to you, you miss out on the fact that Dante... Isn't a reliable narrator, like at all. Just look at the way they focus on Heathcliff and ignore Gregor, or the way they completely missed Outis' scheming in the Backstreets Intervallo. If you refuse to engage with the subtext, you Will miss predictions and deeper understandings of the Sinners, and you might find yourself confused at the upcoming turns and twists in the story.
My point is: If you see something in this fandom that you disagree with, please think twice before immediately jumping on the bandwagon of "PM didn't write that into the game therefore it's not canon!" If you don't think that particular theory is true, there is nothing stopping you from simply moving on. People are allowed to interpret a piece of media however they want, and going around telling people there is only one "correct" way to interpret Limbus Company does the fandom as a whole no favors.
not to beat a point I've made straight into the ground but the new Rodion WAV literally proves how Rodya feels Abt herself and her actions in relation to other people. Like she's straight up at the Salem Witch Trials getting unfairly judged for her crimes doomed to be either drowned or burnt alive through an arbitrary and unfair system of justice on a fake stage and set already primed for her execution... Damned if you do, and damned if you don't, because either way you're not getting out of this alive! ok girl. me too 👍
Outis is like... Right behind Gregor and Rodya for me in terms of favorite LCB Sinners because she's just so dang complex and multifaceted and i love it??? No one gets her complex character and traumatized outlook like I do. okay quick look at this meme
This is her to me. Btw. If you even care
(more Outism under the cut)
If there were any character I wish I had the brainpower to understand, it would 100% be Outis and Meursault. I love both of them dearly and hope we figure out why they're Like That in their respective cantos!!! The Outis Canto Approaches...soon. Soon. So.
Okay quick! Here's five things about Outis that I think are important:
1. It really irks me when people brush Outis off as "funny hag" or "haha funny Dante glazing bootlicker" because, in my opinion, those actions are a direct result of the trauma she survived in the Trojan war + her journey. People thinking she's only One Thing (a bootlicker) seem to forget that in the original Greek mythos, Odysseus is betrayed multiple times by his crew, leading to them spending 10 years getting back to Ithaca instead of 1 or 2. There's a reason why she acts like that, and I wish the fandom talked about it more instead of brushing her off :(
2. I think there's also a big overarching theme of trust with her too. We see it in the Backstreets Sweeping event, when Outis is hurt by Dante's misunderstanding of her character, but I think it's a major thing that will come up repeatedly throughout her canto and onwards. Outis places trust in Dante to lead them, and she expects that trust to be reciprocated, and when it's not she gets incredibly upset (as seen in c7, when Outis had a mini crashout upon finding out Donqui is Sancho). She's someone who is reactionary towards trust because of how people have betrayed her before, and I'm really curious as to where Project Moon's going with this. Especially with how the Odyssey itself handles themes of trust- a good example I can think of is the bed scene, where Penelope refuses to trust Odysseus until he tells her about the tree they built their bed from (something only he would know). I'm really interested to see if that makes an appearance in her canto, as well as how those overarching themes carry over into her story!
3. What happened in the Trojan war, exactly? And what IS the Trojan war? In Outis' base ego you can see a bloody field, presumably the war she fought in. That looks a LOT like the smoke war background we saw for Gregor. Plus, the smoke war is reported to have happened... 10 years before the start of the game, which is the exact time period of the war. Her having the G Corp Manager ID makes me suspicious as well... My point is, I don't think we're out of the woods yet with regards to Gregor's past, and I hope there's at least some mention of the Smoke War in her canto!
4. Speaking of which. The Gregor and Outis beef is hilarious and makes me lose it every time I see it happening. I think there Are parallels between Outis and Gregor that are hard to ignore, and I wonder how her chapter will go, especially with her being unopposed to the war (and literally being the G Corp Manager in that one AU, someone who Gregor beefs with at the start of his canto). Since Gregor is already becoming bitter towards the LCB and the crew, I wonder how her canto is going to affect his development, and vice versa. Like... I'm almost 100% certain that the whole "manager Dante would you trust me even if I've killed and murdered" conversation will come up again in her canto, and Mr. "I hate myself because I've killed and murdered" Samsa will definitely have an interesting reaction to that conversation! haha I can't wait for the crashout #darkbittergregenjoyersrise
okay enough talking about this bug man let's get back to WOMEN!!!
5. Her name. Outis isn't Odyssey- it translates to "Nobody", the name given to Polyphemus when escaping from his cave. Which brings up the question....is Outis 'Odysseus', really? Her sinner sprite has a metal name tag where her name should be, which Donqui ALSO has. I think it's a fair guess to say that her canto will involve Some Identity Fuckery, because that seems to be a conscious design choice. I've also heard some people guess that Outis is Telemachus OR Penelope, and while I'm not entirely sold on either of those theories, she did mention the loom in the TKT Intervallo. Which... If Odysseus has been traveling to Ithaca for 10 years, how would she know about Penelope's loom?
So yeah! I present to you an assortment of my scattered Outis thoughts, anon. I hope you enjoyed reading!!! ^^
firefist Gregor is really interesting for a majority of reasons, but the two that especially surprise me:
1. he uses the first person in his uptie story, meaning no Carmen narration, and
2. This is (as far as I can tell) the first Gregor ID with a Wrath skill 3.
What does this mean? I'm not entirely sure. But I think it does lend credence to the theory that Gregor is hiding a lot of resentment and unsaid anger towards his current situation, especially given the LCE checkup ending.
The fact that Firefist Greg slowly and methodically returns to La Manchaland to basically torture the bloodfiends he comes across tells me that he's a lot smarter then we give him credit for, and that when he puts his mind to something he can be a real menace. Let's just hope that anger isn't directed towards the rest of the LCB...
there is something monumentally funny about the first post I make blowing up to be one about LCB rodion of all people. My apologies in advance to all Rodya likers, I'm not mentally ill enough to understand her nuances unless I'm a certain flavor of Feeling Awful for the week so you'll probably get another post in (checks watch) 3 years! See you all in Canto XVII ☺️
hello! apologies for vanishing from the website for a bit, current events + school starting completely wiped me out. this Will happen again, I'm sure.
buuuut! with that out of the way--- feel free to send me anything I missed regarding limbus or otherwise! (and if you have tips for rr5, please let me know; my turn count is an abysmal 89.)
